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Lot Essay
No other eighteenth century moonflask of this exact design appears to have been published.
The design of the lychee branch follows that of a well-known Yongle prototype. Many Yongzheng flasks were consciously inspired by early Ming patterns, some adhering closely to the original while others revised the designs to suit Qing-dynasty tastes. On the present flask, there are a few significant differences in detail, most notably in the precision of the painting; the profile of the waves; the decoration at the base of the neck and the placement of the branches so specifically on the two sides, rather than spreading more onto the narrow sides.
Early Ming moonflasks of this type have been widely published. Compare the Yongle example in the British Museum, from the Oppenheim Collection, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 5, Tokyo, 1981, no. 161; one illustrated by Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1954, pl. 30a, originally from the Clark Collection and illustrated again in Masterpieces of Old Chinese Ceramics from the Ataka Collection, Tokyo, 1975, col. pl. 76; and another in the Matsuoka Museum of Art, illustrated in Selected Masterpieces of Ceramics, Matsuoka Museum of Art, Japan, 1984, pl. 50, Japan, 19.
One other fifteenth century-style blue and white flask of Yongzheng date decorated with fruiting lychee branches appears to have been published. The painting of the branches and the fruit is quite different, however, from that of the present flask, and there are trefoil bands at the base of the neck and above the foot. See Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 21 May 1985, lot 120. Another Yongzheng flask of this type, but painted with fruiting crab apple branches, between trefoil bands, is illustrated in Gu gongcang zhuanshi ciqi zhenyong duibi - Lidai guyao zhibiao ben tulu, Beijing, 1998, p. 81, no. 55. See, also, the flask of this type with Yongzheng mark, but decorated with birds perched on a flowering prunus branch, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 36 - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 111, no. 97.
The design of the lychee branch follows that of a well-known Yongle prototype. Many Yongzheng flasks were consciously inspired by early Ming patterns, some adhering closely to the original while others revised the designs to suit Qing-dynasty tastes. On the present flask, there are a few significant differences in detail, most notably in the precision of the painting; the profile of the waves; the decoration at the base of the neck and the placement of the branches so specifically on the two sides, rather than spreading more onto the narrow sides.
Early Ming moonflasks of this type have been widely published. Compare the Yongle example in the British Museum, from the Oppenheim Collection, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 5, Tokyo, 1981, no. 161; one illustrated by Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1954, pl. 30a, originally from the Clark Collection and illustrated again in Masterpieces of Old Chinese Ceramics from the Ataka Collection, Tokyo, 1975, col. pl. 76; and another in the Matsuoka Museum of Art, illustrated in Selected Masterpieces of Ceramics, Matsuoka Museum of Art, Japan, 1984, pl. 50, Japan, 19.
One other fifteenth century-style blue and white flask of Yongzheng date decorated with fruiting lychee branches appears to have been published. The painting of the branches and the fruit is quite different, however, from that of the present flask, and there are trefoil bands at the base of the neck and above the foot. See Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 21 May 1985, lot 120. Another Yongzheng flask of this type, but painted with fruiting crab apple branches, between trefoil bands, is illustrated in Gu gongcang zhuanshi ciqi zhenyong duibi - Lidai guyao zhibiao ben tulu, Beijing, 1998, p. 81, no. 55. See, also, the flask of this type with Yongzheng mark, but decorated with birds perched on a flowering prunus branch, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 36 - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 111, no. 97.